Nice to be part of the community (1 Viewer)

[Mountain man]

Welcome from the Highlands of Scotland

 

[Minxy]

Tandeming is a bit like a relationship - adjusting to one another's ways and the odd fall out. Brilliant for getting out and about from a site if you don't want to take the van out.

We did that with a kayak for a long while ... in the end we got singles to avoid one drowning the other!

 

[Michael Rennison]

Welcome from the Highlands of Scotland

We have totally neglected the Highlands - as soon as things open up we are looking at getting up to Skye. It looks beautiful.

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[Michael Rennison]

We did that with a kayak for a long while ... in the end we got singles to avoid one drowning the other!

I can understand that one having Kayaked briefly in Lake Garda. I must have no end of 360s. Even had to pull the missus out when she capsized. Carbon fibre C class 5, Mick and Sara 0. They're super quick but stable they are not.

 

[GirlyVanGirly]

and

Husband sometimes suggests a tandem .... he is almost 76, I am 69 ... I have never been able to ride a bike!

 

[Minxy]

I can understand that one having Kayaked briefly in Lake Garda. I must have no end of 360s. Even had to pull the missus out when she capsized. Carbon fibre C class 5, Mick and Sara 0. They're super quick but stable they are not.

Noooo, not that sort of accidental 'drowing' ... it was in relation to one of us intentionally chucking the other overboard!

We had an inflatable Gumotex Palava (well named!) more like a canoe I suppose, but couldn't get the paddling right so ended up having 'discussions' and not paddling a lot of the time and thus it became less appealing to get it out. The single inflatables worked well (we had various models) and I still have one but hubby hasn't got his now as he's not as keen as me and prefers to potter at the MH instead.

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[Michael Rennison]

and

Husband sometimes suggests a tandem .... he is almost 76, I am 69 ... I have never been able to ride a bike!

You're never too old to start - we're mid 60s, though both cycled since our teens. Find a nice grassy slope, saddle right down so your feet are flat on tbe grass and husband holding the saddle and just get the hang of steering and braking before you try anything like pedalling. It'll be amazing. . Lockdown has emptied bike shops of most of their stock so once you fancy a bike of your own it might be a lot of legwork . We keep meeting a couple who are 82 and 84, out everyday on one of their 14 bikes. Lol.

 

[Michael Rennison]

Noooo, not that sort of accidental 'drowing' ... it was in relation to one of us intentionally chucking the other overboard!

We had an inflatable Gumotex Palava (well named!) more like a canoe I suppose, but couldn't get the paddling right so ended up having 'discussions' and not paddling a lot of the time and thus it became less appealing to get it out. The single inflatables worked well (we had various models) and I still have one but hubby hasn't got his now as he's not as keen as me and prefers to potter at the MH instead.

Slight error with the Kayak models - they were K1 white water missiles owned by a pro who spent his youth and Uni career in the water every day. He's a family man now so our canoeing with them is more sedate. Definitely fancy an inflatable having seen a couple rock up at San Felice on Garda with a rucksack that turned into a canoe.

 

[GirlyVanGirly]

You're never too old to start - we're mid 60s, though both cycled since our teens. Find a nice grassy slope, saddle right down so your feet are flat on tbe grass and husband holding the saddle and just get the hang of steering and braking before you try anything like pedalling. It'll be amazing. . Lockdown has emptied bike shops of most of their stock so once you fancy a bike of your own it might be a lot of legwork . We keep meeting a couple who are 82 and 84, out everyday on one of their 14 bikes. Lol.

Oh believe me Michael, I have tried (with the sort of help you have suggested) many, many times, and failed miserably! A friend even forced me onto a tricycle once, I hated it! I love the idea of cycling but feel so wobbly and out of control it scares the living daylights out of me!

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[funflair]

Slight error with the Kayak models - they were K1 white water missiles owned by a pro who spent his youth and Uni career in the water every day. He's a family man now so our canoeing with them is more sedate. Definitely fancy an inflatable having seen a couple rock up at San Felice on Garda with a rucksack that turned into a canoe.

Oh yes that would be a bit tippy, first time I sat in one I couldn't believe that people actually paddled them

 

[funflair]

Oh believe me Michael, I have tried (with the sort of help you have suggested) many, many times, and failed miserably! A friend even forced me onto a tricycle once, I hated it! I love the idea of cycling but feel so wobbly and out of control it scares the living daylights out of me!

You are absolutely made for the back of a tandem, if you can and do ride a bike it can be a bit scary on the back as you can't turn the handlebars, not without turning the seat in front of you anyway and I believe the dire consequences of this have been covered earlier, get somebody to take you out on the back of theirs for a quick try out, much easier for you behind an experienced "captain" (you are the "stoker" I kid you not)

Catch me at a rally and would be happy to take you for a spin.

 

[GirlyVanGirly]

You are absolutely made for the back of a tandem, if you can and do ride a bike it can be a bit scary on the back as you can't turn the handlebars, not without turning the seat in front of you anyway and I believe the dire consequences of this have been covered earlier, get somebody to take you out on the back of theirs for a quick try out, much easier for you behind an experienced "captain" (you are the "stoker" I kid you not)

Catch me at a rally and would be happy to take you for a spin.

Ooh, yes, I have no desire to steer! I was always fine on the back of a motorbike! lol..... I would happily take you up on the offer of a spin!

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[funflair]

Slight error with the Kayak models - they were K1 white water missiles owned by a pro who spent his youth and Uni career in the water every day. He's a family man now so our canoeing with them is more sedate. Definitely fancy an inflatable having seen a couple rock up at San Felice on Garda with a rucksack that turned into a canoe.

The Gumotex Palava as mentioned by Minxy Girl is a Canoe not a Kayak but it packs into a bag that will go on your back (heavy though) it is quick and easy to inflate and put the seats in and can then be paddled by one or preferably two people, very comfortable for a leisurely paddle on a sunny day or even a bit of moving white water if that takes your fancy.

 

[Michael Rennison]

Oh believe me Michael, I have tried (with the sort of help you have suggested) many, many times, and failed miserably! A friend even forced me onto a tricycle once, I hated it! I love the idea of cycling but feel so wobbly and out of control it scares the living daylights out of me!

That's a bummer - though the last thing you want is to feel nervous on a bike. Even the pro-cyclists can get those nerves. It's a bit like playing a piano or tennis - you've got to relax.

 

[Michael Rennison]

You are absolutely made for the back of a tandem, if you can and do ride a bike it can be a bit scary on the back as you can't turn the handlebars, not without turning the seat in front of you anyway and I believe the dire consequences of this have been covered earlier, get somebody to take you out on the back of theirs for a quick try out, much easier for you behind an experienced "captain" (you are the "stoker" I kid you not)

Catch me at a rally and would be happy to take you for a spin.

Excellent idea Funflair - that could be the start of two wheel fun

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[Minxy]

Slight error with the Kayak models - they were K1 white water missiles owned by a pro who spent his youth and Uni career in the water every day. He's a family man now so our canoeing with them is more sedate. Definitely fancy an inflatable having seen a couple rock up at San Felice on Garda with a rucksack that turned into a canoe.

We've had various single kayaks/canoes but have found Gumotex to be extremely good, very robust and importantly if you go for the full Nitrilon ones you don't need to worry about putting them away damp (they did some version in what was called 'Litepak' and later Heavalon) which had a different material on the inner which took a while to dry). We've had the Palava which is quite a big canoe but at the time we wanted it for us and out 3 dogs ... yes really! Then we got a couple of second hand Gumotex Juniors which were much smaller single kayaks just to see how we got on with them (they were sale fairly locally on Ebay and cheap so worth a go).

As we found we were much happier with singles we decided to get new ones but due to the price of Gumotex ones we went for another make (can't remember what at the moment) and whilst quite good to use they were an absolute pain in the bum to try to dry afterwards - Gumotex are one piece with 'thick' (laminated) single skin construction and totally sealed so don't allowing any water inside the 'skin' thus a rinse with clean water followed by a wipe down with a towel and they were able to be put away. The new ones however were a different construction consisting of inner bladders and outer zipped covers and we soon realised our mistake - no matter how careful we were when paddling water got in through the zips and pooled inside of the covers, so it was impossible to dry them out as you couldn't fully access the inner, and just wiping them down didn't work anyway as the outer material wasn't fully waterproof either so held the damp, this is the case with a lot, if not all, of those with internal bladders. For us this made them totally unsuitable as we didn't stop in the same place for a long enough time in order to dry them over a few days so we ended up putting them away wet and had to keep getting them out to dry each time we stopped at our next overnight spot, drove us nuts!

We then looked at Gumotex again and got a second hand Solar and Sunny (not made now), but then came across some of their new Helios ones which are more like a normal kayak with front and rear covers - you could get a cag to go with them to turn them into a 'full' kayak, it was also possible to buy a rudder too which you worked with your feet! We just used them as they were but having the front/rear covers made them a little bit awkward to get in/out of. We then got a couple of Twist singles which were Litepak (the ones with the softer material on the top) and whilst very good and they dried a lot quicker than the non-Gumotex ones, they still weren't perfect for us but were manageable. When we spotted some new Twist singles which were the full Nitrilon and a good price we thought what the hell why not get some which will be perfect for us, however hubby wasn't that bothered about kayaking anyway by then as his hip was playing up so he wasn't comfortable in one, so I just got one for myself and love it, so do my dogs.

This is a thread about kayaks with a link to comments I made previously.

Suggestions for Folding or Inflatable Kayaks Please

Sea Eagle 473 does look the business.... has anyone considered (and discounted) the KXOne Slider? Slightly wider, slightly shorter...so perhaps a little less tippy..which seems to be the only minor criticism of the Sea Eagle I've found so far ...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

 

[Michael Rennison]

Thankyou for that - very very helpful as we were looking this year at getting one from Decathlon. I'll do my research with your experience in mind. Thankyou so much.

 

[ambulancekidd]

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[Michael Rennison]

Those links are very helpful - we love to watch our garden birds and seeing Ospreys feeding must be amazing at Loch Doon. The midge link is scary for a man who can attract biting insects from 2 miles. Great advice nevertheless. We will definitely have to pick our moment to head north.